MotoGP | Fausto Gresini: the memory of Honda Motor Europe Italia

MotoGP Fausto Gresini – Honda Motor Europe Italia wanted to remember Fausto Gresini, a successful driver and Team Manager who passed away due to Covid-19 last February. Below is the press release from the house with the golden wing.

For Honda Italia, Fausto Gresini was one of the solid pillars on which some of the most beautiful sporting activities of the Casa dell'Ala in Italy were founded. First as a rider in the 125 class, then as team manager, the collaborative relationships with Fausto have always been characterized by a common denominator, attention to his riders.

Whether they were from MotoGP or from the Honda academy, Fausto followed them and cared for them with the same desire to support them. Without any air of an experienced MotoGP entrepreneur, much less adorned with the aura of a two-time World Champion rider, he was, rather, rich in his visceral passion, when on the trackside his eyes became bright: between the curbs, ten-year-olds effectively painted their first trajectories. Fausto and his technical staff were an operational part of the exclusive HIRP project, acronym for Honda Italia Racing Project.

Statements Vito Cicchetti for many years General Manager of Honda Italy on Fausto Gresini

“We have done many co-marketing activities together with Gresini Racing. Among the most important was the HIRP project. Like us, Fausto wanted to invest in an unprecedented program, which was structured to create a new generation of winning Italian drivers.”

So it was, among their names there are today's world champions, such as Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Matteo Ferrari, or Andrea Locatelli and Enea Bastianini.

Between one MotoGP event and another, when he could, Fausto loved to come and see how those little riders developed their performance skills, acquired those skills that, in the future, would lead them to the conquest of sporting titles. Many of those kids represent a large portion of the current "high level" Italian drivers, that is, those who participate in world-class competitions, for example Romano Fenati and Fabio Di Giannantonio, Luca Marini, Stefano Manzi, as well as Federico Caricasulo, Axel Bassani, Samuele Cavalieri and Federico Fuligni.

During his formative years, even though he was busy traveling to the MotoGP, Fausto used to keep up to date on their technical progress. There wasn't a day of training without a phone call from him, whether it was at Philip Island or Mugello it made no difference. His was a constant, genuine interest. To each of the students, at least once, Fausto gave encouragement and gave advice so respectful and loving that it had now become fixed forever in their personal drawer of memories.

Statements by Carlo Fiorani, former HRC Team Manager, today Motorcycle Racing Communication Director on Fausto Gresini

“The thing that always struck me about Fausto was his great humanity and his ability to involve people with his passion and strength. He was a man who was not afraid to show his emotions. Inside himself he remained the same rider who, while winning on his motorbike, cried with happiness inside his helmet."

Honda and Gresini Racing have shared many joys, from the world titles in 250, Moto 2 and Moto 3, to the places of honor on the final podiums of the 2004 and 2005 MotoGP, with Sete Gibernau and Marco Melandri, on whose RC211V fairings there is it was the Honda Italia logo.

“The negotiations with the HRC were at times moments of difficulty, but they strengthened both the relationship of entrepreneurial esteem and the personal friendships between the members of Gresini Racing and Honda Italia” recalls Vito Cicchetti, adding: “The great point of Fausto's strength was being able to transfer his positivity to the whole team."

The tenacity and entrepreneurial acumen with which Fausto was gifted is often remembered by anyone who had dealings with him. He founded his team in 1997, three years after giving up the driver's suit: “Fausto never gave up” says Carlo Fiorani, “In many years of working together, first as a driver and then as team manager, I have never seen him to give up or be demoralized by the results, he was a born winner."

A strength that did not fail even on the occasion of two great tragedies, as Fiorani underlines: “The loss of Dajiro Kato, first, and Marco Simoncelli, then, affected him deeply. But he managed to summon all the strength needed to continue, thus honoring the memory of his pilots." Those were particularly difficult moments, first and foremost for Gresini Racing and then for Honda Italia. “The Gresini – Simoncelli combination was perfect, a magnificent dream in the making. However, within a few months, it became a tragedy" recalls Cicchetti. “The pain is indelible, as is the loss of my great friend Fausto. The memory of his last video calls of him is strong in my mind, when in his hospital bed, despite the suffering, he continued to demonstrate how great his willpower was. He was a serious man, a joyful reference of cordiality, positivity and correctness, in life and in the sport of motorcycling." In unison, Vito Cicchetti and Carlo Fiorani, the former students, the technical staff and the training staff of the HIRP, and all of us at Honda Italia, plus, today, Honda Motor Europe, we can say nothing other than "Fausto, we will miss you".